SYRUP SWEETS - BOONDHI
Angoora Boondhi
Gram flour - 1 cup
Maida - 1 cup
Urad dal - 3/4 cup
Sugar - 3 cupsv
Ghee for frying
Cardamom - 6, powdered
Food colors - pink, green, yellow, orange
Soak urad dal for 2 hours and grind like that for idli. Add the gram flour and maida to this and mix. Take small quantities of this flour in several vessels and mix the various food colours in each of them. Make sugar syrup by heating sugar and water in the ratio 1:1. Make it into a thick syrup. Heat ghee. Hold the boondhi plate over the oil and gently rub the flour on the boondhi plate so that boondhis are dropped into the oil. Deep fry the boondhis, remove and add it into the sugar syrup. Let it soak up syrup for 20 to 30 minutes, then remove, drain, and offer.
Bengali Darvesh
1 cup gram flour (besan)
a pinch of orange colour
1-½ cups sugar
¼ tsp. saffron
1 tsp cardamom powder
1 tbsp sliced almonds and pistachios
ghee as needed
Mix flour with enough water to make a batter of drop consistency. Add colour. Heat 2 cups of ghee to very hot. Through a fine sieve drop tiny drops of batter into ghee. When they are just golden, remove and reserve. Prepare a syrup of sugar with one cup water. When the syrup is ready, add the drops, saffron and cardamom powder. Add nuts. Mix well and offer.
Bonde
Besan: 1-1/2 cups
A pinch of bicarbonate of soda
Powdered rice: ¼ cup
Ghee for deep frying:1-1/2 cups
Sugar: 6 cups
In a pan heat together 6 cups of sugar and 6 cups of water. Let it boil and simmer until the syrup is of medium consistency. Remove from fire and allow it to cool. Blend together besan and 1-1/2 cups of water. Mix the powdered rice and bicarbonate of soda. Heat ghee in a deep pan and through a jhanjri (or colander), pour the besan mixture on the hot oil. Fry until crisp, not brown. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon. Drain out the oil in a paper. While still hot pour in the prepared syrup. Continue this until the besan mixture is over. After the Bonde is soaked in the syrup remove with a slotted spoon and spread on a flat dish.
Sweet Puttu
2 cups rice
2-1/5 cups water
Pinch of salt
¼ tsp turmeric
1 pound jaggery
6 cardamoms
¼ cup coconut, grated
Handful roasted cashews
Dry roast the rice and powder it finely. Heat water to lukewarm, add salt and turmeric powder. Pour this water into the powdered rice and mix into a paste. Steam this paste in a pressure cooker fully until you get 4-5 whistles. To 1/5 cup water add jaggery, cardomoms, and coconut and make a syrup out it. Break the cooked rice dough into fine pieces and mix it with the jaggery syrup. Add roasted cashewnuts.
